Surge of Electricity
by CadeXHybrid
Summary: Alex Mercer has lost all faith in humanity. In order to purge this world of its evils, he's decided to return to NYC and release the Blacklight Virus once again. But before he can attempt such a daring plan, Alex must make sure that all potential threats in the form of superheroes are taken care of. With one hero in mind, Alex will bring the fight to him in his nearby, native city.
1. Used to Be

**Chapter 1: Used To Be**

Alex Mercer was a long way away from New York, yet he could still feel that same sense of familiarity in this new town. The citizens still gave him strange looks wherever he walked around. Pedestrians still reacted the same way when he shapeshifted his viral biomass in public. Law enforcement was still quick to go to guns the moment Mercer used his whipfist to snatch up and consume a police officer on duty.

He'd already lost all faith in humanity. The ensuing screams of terror meant nothing to him now. All he cared about was reshaping the world into what it should've been since humans began to exist. Mankind will remain flawed in its self-destructive ways until he managed to infect everyone with the Blacklight virus. Only then would humans finally become "evolved." Only then would Mercer be able to erase this world's eternal conflict and end its suffering completely.

But before he could attempt any of that, Alex needed to make sure that the top of the food chain was reserved to him alone. He couldn't risk anyone else with formidable power usurping his control once his plans commenced, and as far as he was concerned, there was only one other person in the United States remotely capable of putting a stop to codename Zeus. Being preemptive, Alex decided the best way to take care of this potential problem was to bring the fight all the way to his target, but he would need to draw out this unknowing adversary first.

What Alex quickly gleaned from the consumed officer's memories was that his target was considered to be the hero of this still recovering city. Apparently, one of the boroughs of this urban town was the site of a large-scale terroristic attack that resulted in a deadly explosion a few months back. Just another reason Mercer needed to carry out his "new world" plan as soon as possible.

More police officers arrived on the scene via blaring police cars. Alex didn't mind having some fun with them until his intended target came to their rescue.

* * *

**-X-**

Things escalated quickly, to say the least. Burning automobiles were overturned and scattered about the streets. Dozens of officers lay dead in bloody heaps. Screams and piercing gunshots did nothing but add to the chaos in the atmosphere. Any minute now, and a certain Conduit would show his face.

Alex Mercer stood in the middle of a four-way intersection; he was clearly the pivotal focus of the law's attention. Bullets originating from pistols, assault rifles, and shotguns in the hands of desperately firing police officers directly ahead of Mercer repeatedly pierced his body.

Hardly even flinching, Mercer decided now was a good time to go back on the offensive. Doing a quick one-eighty, he sprinted away from the relentless gunfire and leaped to the nearest building's side, scaling up along the tall edifice's wall until kicking off and jumping back down into the fray. Mercer aimed his falling body over one of the cop cars, which was currently surrounded by six unlucky police officers. Positioning his elbow overtop the car, Alex landed a devastating elbow-slam that practically collapsed the vehicle's roof three feet into the pavement, also causing a surreal shockwave with enough force to send all six cops tumbling away.

More lawmen began raining gunfire in his direction, so Alex retreated to the police officers' periphery, avoiding the never-ending waves of ammunition. Then, Alex shifted gears and made a beeline for two cops posted up next to each other, firing from handguns. Transforming his arms into the lethal claws, Alex arrived in front of the officers and drove his claws through both of their chests, earning screams of pain from either of them as blood marked the streets.

Extracting his claws and allowing the two cops to fall lifelessly, Alex restored his limbs back into human arms, looking around to see if his target was ready to come out and play. Still, he was nowhere to be found.

Shrugging, Mercer said without remorse, "Looks like he needs more goading. Where are you, Conduit?"

Transforming his right arm into the deadly blade, Mercer turned and honed in on another police officer, who panicked and fired potshots at the incoming Prototype. Even though Alex could've easily cleaved said officer in half, he actually felt somewhat merciful and only left a deep gash that ran across the man's upper body, resulting in the cop faltering and bleeding out on the ground.

"I can do this all day," Alex muttered, turning around to face the rest of the police. Oddly enough, they ceased firing, opting to take cover behind vacant automobiles. Squinting at them, Alex wasn't sure if they were all just stricken with terror or something else was about to happen…

An electric jolt suddenly caught Zeus in the center of his back. Having jolted forward from the shock, Alex whirled around immediately to finally catch sight of the man he'd been looking for. Standing just ten feet away, he was a man of average height sporting a buzz cut, a yellow jacket, dark gray pants, and a one-strap sling backpack; his clothes reflected that of a bike courier's apparel.

Glaring heavily at the man, Alex allowed his right arm to revert back to normal, clenching his fists down by his sides in unyielding pre-battle tension.

Judging by the man's facial expression, he didn't seem too happy with Alex's messy work. Scowling back at Alex, the man declared, "It's over, freak."

Smirking, Alex replied before officially starting the fight, "My thoughts, exactly."

Like lightning, Alex planted his right fist into the street, simultaneously distributing a tremor of ground spikes that moved beneath the pavement the other man stood on. This man's instincts definitely must have been superhuman in nature judging by how fast he dodge-rolled out of the way before Alex's fifteen-feet-tall ground spikes impaled him.

Just as quick as they'd risen out the ground, the spikes retracted back into the pavement and returned to Mercer's arms. Before Mercer could even follow up with another attack, the other man had used both of his hands to summon an electromagnetic shockwave to forcibly send Alex airborne into the side of an abandoned SUV.

Alex's opponent was fast and relentless; before the Prototype could even regain his bearings, the man with the buzz cut charged forward and repeatedly punched Alex against the SUV. For each impact of his fists, the man's arms sparked with electricity, sending painful shocks through Alex's body like a flurry of electrifying agony. When the pummeling finally ended, Alex looked up to see the man backflip and lob a flashing blue orb towards him; this orb, evidently a collection of electrical energy, seemingly stuck to Alex's chest with the weight of a beach ball. Seconds later, the orb exploded like a powerful hand grenade.

Dazed and damaged, Mercer found himself lying face-up on the street in a cloud of dirt. In the immediate vicinity, he could hear the other man say decisively, "Good riddance."

With a small chuckle, Mercer stood up to his feet, smirking at his electrically powerful opponent. Earning a curious look from the man, codename Zeus stated, "I hear you're one of those Conduit things—the Prime Conduit, to be exact. Sorry, but not even you can take me down that easily."

Now, it was Alex's turn to show off his moves, mainly one of his Devastators. Bending his knees a little, Mercer concentrated deeply as wormlike biomasses encircled his arms and torso, indicating an extreme buildup of inner power. As he did so, he could clearly see that the other man's face was stricken with apprehension. Finally, Mercer let loose his highly destructive Tendril Barrage technique, encroaching the entire block with dozens of spearing black tendrils that originated from his back. Just as Mercer expected, his quick adversary had been able to successfully dodge one of the tendrils hurtling his way

This time around, Mercer tried something new with his technique; like plethoric extra arms, he used some of those tendrils to snag up a few fallen police officers, pulling them into his body for immediate consumption. After each tendril retracted once more into his back, Mercer was pleased to find that most of his wounds from earlier had rapidly healed over. Casually standing on the street, Mercer awaited his foe's next move with a cool and confident expression.

Angered by Mercer's freaky rampage, the electric man started in a low growl, "I don't know who or what the hell you are, but I'm bringing you down. And if you think you can come into _my_ city and kill innocent people like the monster you are, then you're in for one hell of a surprise."

Alex mocked, "Big words, Electric Man."

"Wait…I know who you are, now," the other man suddenly stated, seemingly on to something. "You're the beast Kessler warned me about!"

Shaking his head, Mercer nullified, "Beast? I guess you could insert that moniker under my résumé. Actually, I used to be known as Alex Mercer. Used to be." Looking his opponent dead in the eye, Alex deduced, "And you must be the infamous Cole MacGrath."

* * *

**-X-**

_It's another Deathmatch! This time, we've got Alex Mercer from Prototype going head to head with the hero-version of Cole MacGrath from the Infamous series! A match made in Combat Heaven!_

_Usually, when I do Deathmatches, I have two stories go out at the same time, one for each respective franchise. Last week, I updated Cole's side of the first chapter without updating this one…which was late and delayed even more. Work with me guys. This whole "weekly update" thing is sort of new to me, but I'm catching on._

_So please, stay in touch for more on-time updates of Deathmathes, stories, and more action-packed entries every week! (Usually on Thursdays.)_


	2. Dead to Rights

**Chapter 2: Dead to Rights**

Without further ado, Alex surged forward, claws ready to rip Cole MacGrath apart. The Electric Man was faster than Alex perceived; he successfully dodged two strikes meant for his neck, causing Alex to resort to forcing his heel into MacGrath's midsection.

However, Cole unpredictably caught Alex's foot with both hands, bridging into a powerful throw that flung Alex across the street. Before he knew it, Mercer was surrounded by glowing blue orbs of electricity situated on the ground, courtesy of MacGrath's electromagnetic powers. The Conduit yelled, "Special delivery!"

Crouched on the ground, Alex predicted these orbs would explode shortly. Without wasting any precious time, he leapt skyward, totally avoiding any damage from the plethoric detonations below. While in midair, Alex equipped his deadly Blade power-up, entering a downward somersault as he rapidly descended over MacGrath. Alex intended to end this fight as concisely as possible.

MacGrath had back-flipped at the very last second, narrowly missing a conference with Mercer's Blade. Pursuing his back-tracking enemy, Alex goaded, "Don't run, MacGrath!"

"No one's running!" Cole replied, holding out his hand to fire out a couple of rocket-sized electrical charges that tore in Mercer's direction.

Without slowing down his pace, Alex smirked and equipped his nigh impenetrable Shield power, using it to successfully block and absorb the brunt of MacGrath's rocket-like attacks—otherwise known as his Megawatt Hammers. Knowing Cole had surely dropped his guard, Alex was steadfast in his speedy charge, inevitably using his shield like a battering ram against MacGrath's stationary body.

The impact was devastating enough to send MacGrath tumbling down the empty road until he ceased motion on his back. With murderous intent, Alex soared into the air, positioning himself above MacGrath's fallen form. Switching back to his Claws as he fell, Alex made to drive his right hand through Cole's chest, only to see him roll away at the last second as Mercer stabbed the ground. Quickly rectifying the situation, Alex made sure his other clawed-hand found its way into the Prime Conduit's ribcage.

Earning an anguished screamed from MacGrath, Mercer saw that he had him skewered to the pavement. Blood poured from MacGrath's wounds, rapidly staining his yellow jacket. Alex could still feel Cole resisting, well aware of his opponent's struggle to extract the claw from his chest. Hoping to end MacGrath's tenacious efforts soon, Alex raised his other claw to cast a lethal strike to the neck.

However, Alex was swiftly interrupted by two feet that forced their way into his abdomen and set him back a few meters. Simultaneously, his clawed hand ripped itself from MacGrath's ribcage, leaving behind three gaping holes in his body. Before Alex regained his bearings, MacGrath ran in a different direction, heading straight for the pole of a traffic light to absorb its bright blue electricity. Evidently, this act fully restored Cole's body, closing up his wounds.

"He heals fast," Alex muttered, studying his opponent. "That just means I'll have to be more persistent…"

Standing up and switching powers to the increased Muscle Mass, Alex charged at Cole just as he was turning around. Zeroing in the unaware Electric Man, Mercer heard his opponent say before getting socked hard in the jaw, "All right, round two—oh, shit—!"

Mercer's powerful right hook sent Cole flying at terminal velocity across the Neon District. He must have landed somewhere toward the center of the humungous district. However, Alex still had a bead on MacGrath, only half a mile of pavement between them.

At first, Alex had his mind set on sprinting forward and confronting Cole MacGrath head-on. After reconsidering his tactic, Alex figured out a way that he could still be persistent in his assault from afar. Cracking his oversized knuckles, Alex eyed the bounteous, abandoned automobiles in the immediate area. Smirking darkly under his hood, Mercer quipped to himself, "Heads up, MacGrath."

Hoisting up the nearest four-door sedan with ease, Alex proceeded to hurl it across the skies of the Neon District. It didn't end there; in rapid succession, Alex lifted and threw twelve more cars, aiming so they would land in Cole MacGrath's general location. During his aerial vehicular assault, Alex noticed that each car thrown somehow got reflected away from the desired target.

"Right, he's got some kind of shockwave ability," Alex muttered irritably after tossing the last car. Exchanging his Muscle Mass power-up for none at all, he cursed lowly, "Dammit, looks like I'll have to take care of this up close after all."

Racing through the city, Alex leapt over any cars in his beeline path. In record time, he reached the section of the district that contained MacGrath, who'd just gotten done draining electricity from an adjacent phone booth. The newer locale, evidently known as "Archer Square," was devoid of any wandering pedestrians, likely a product of all the flying automobiles.

Archer Square looked to be some sort of wide common area. In its center resided a star-shaped crest imbedded into the ground; a thirty foot statue of a man overlooked the crest, as well as a large portion of the Neon District. Scowling venomously, Cole currently stood in the middle of the road, inches in front of the common area.

Mercer had slowed down to a casual walk, returning a flippant smirk to the Prime Conduit. He thought a little taunting was in order. Gesturing to himself, Alex pointed out, "Unlike you, MacGrath, I'm not forced to constantly recharge my batteries." Halting to leave at least ten feet between them, Alex boasted, "My powers are everlasting and far more intuitive than that."

Still glaring daggers at the Prototype, Cole calmly countered, "That's good to know, but I think you lack versatility. Yeah, you might have more offensive powers than me, but your quantity far outweighs your quality."

Alex had to scoff at that. Shaking his head slightly, he said, "If you're trying to tell me that your pitiful range of abilities outclass mine, then maybe I should take off the kid-gloves…"

Going on the offensive, he first crashed his knuckles together to create a small shockwave meant only to distract his electricity-wielding opponent. Leaping into the air with a swift flip at the apex, Alex chose to equip his heavy-hitting Hammerfists. He knew that they were slow and designed for putting bulky, armored vehicles out of commission, but he really needed to deal out some substantial damage against MacGrath.

Mercer's landing involved slamming both Hammerfists on the ground with meteoric effect, excessively fracturing the pavement. Alex's original target was, of course, Cole, who'd vaulted backwards just before being squashed. However, Alex did manage to successfully foresee MacGrath's subsequent counterattack. Shortly before vaulting backward, the Electric Man tossed out one of those glowing blue charges that explode after a few seconds.

_Nice try, _Alex thought to himself, using his left Hammerfist to swat away the incoming shock grenade. However, it was too late when realization dawned on him that the explosive attack worked just like a sticky grenade; the glowing ball promptly stuck to the back of his boulder-like fist, not going anywhere for the time being.

Staring at the shock grenade as he attempted to shake it off, Alex shrieked in frustration, "What the—?!"

The resulting explosion knocked Mercer on his back, leaving him dazed. The next thing he heard was MacGrath cry, "Have some more!"

MacGrath began firing off rocket-like Megawatt Hammers, all of which pulverized Mercer's fallen form in clean succession. Aside from the damaging explosions, the immeasurably high voltage was particularly painful for Alex; the electric overload was placing him on a swift path to death. At this rate, he was certainly going to reach said destination before the fight actually got serious.

_No,_ Alex mentally protested. _This bastard's not taking me down that easily…_

Just then, while lying on the ground, Alex encased his entire body in the grayish, rock-solid Armor. This didn't completely halt the pain originating from MacGrath's Megawatt Hammers, but it sure did wonders in considerably reducing it.

Alex's sudden metamorphosis must have surprised Cole enough to give him pause in his Megawatt barrage. This allotted Alex the time he needed to stand up on his own two feet, staring MacGrath down from his indistinguishable face. It was definitely his moment for retaliation.

Cole, who'd gone wide-eyed with mouth agape, slowly commented, "Okay…this is gettin' wild."

Switching to the Blade, Alex rushed forward and made an attempt to slash Cole through the abdomen. His attack proved too sluggish, however. MacGrath managed to clear a vault right over Alex's head, totally avoiding the Blade swipe and landing behind Mercer.

Believing he had the upper hand, Cole jested, "Too slow!" Reeling back his right fist, MacGrath landed a bone-shattering punch in the back on Alex's head. However, "bone-shattering" was better used to describe the state of Cole's hand. It must have slipped his mind that Mercer's _entire body was armored._

Finding this amusing, Mercer chuckled before spinning around to deliver a quick horizontal slash; once again, Cole dodged the attack, this time opting to bend backward and let the blade pass over his chest. Alex watched in frustration as MacGrath bridged his dodge into a successful backflip, jogging in reverse to create some distance between the two combatants.

Alex went after the Conduit, who repeatedly fired lightning bolt potshots at Mercer's armored form. The weaker bolts did little damage against Alex's armored body, dispersing into sparks upon contact. After Alex missed cutting MacGrath again, Cole taunted, "Shame all your moves are short-range, Mercer! Can't get a break, can you?"

Still getting bombarded by lightning bolts, Codename Zeus retorted through rigid teeth, "Yeah, keep talking, asshole!"

Suddenly, Cole stepped back to supplement a huge amount of blue electricity to either of his hands, forming what looked like short, electrical blades around both hands. Going back to dodging armored Mercer's Blade-assault, Cole said before unleashing a tremendous counterattack, "Who're you calling asshole? Asshole!"

MacGrath swung both of his supercharged hands across Mercer's chest. The force was strong enough to knock Alex on his back, fifteen feet away. As he lay on the ground, he voluntarily reverted back to his regular form, knowing speed was no longer a worthy sacrifice. Standing up quickly, Alex spotted Cole with his back turned as he approached a phone booth, most likely to replenish his energy.

Since it seemed like the right time to enforce some long range attacks, Alex equipped his Whipfist and lashed out in Cole's direction. Like lightning, Cole ducked down to avoid the sudden back-attack, coming up again to face Alex. Dodging another strike, Cole exclaimed in apparent vexation, "Are you shitting me? Another power? What, are you pulling them out of your ass, now?"

As he relished Cole's infuriated words, Alex jeered back, "Envy's a bad color on you, MacGrath." Cracking his Whipfist again, he shouted, "So how's this for long-range?"

MacGrath made a diving motion to dodge Mercer's Whipfist. Scurrying over to the phone booth, he extracted a meager amount of electricity from it before leaping away again to evade another whip-attack, which resulted in a demolished phone booth.

Cole threw out a shock grenade in retaliation, boosting it forward with a shockwave. Having no intention of being near the glowing explosive, Alex chose to jump fifty feet skyward. At the peak of his jump, he snapped his Whipfist down at MacGrath, who must have assumed that it was an ordinary attack. Though Cole sidestepped the incoming Whipfist, he didn't expect it to wrap around his ankle and pluck him up into the sky with Alex Mercer.

Having turned the fight vertical, Alex switched to his Claws and started hacking away; MacGrath, upside down in midair, expertly dodged and weaved each of Alex's wild strikes. Growing impatient, Alex attempted to fatally cut Cole down the middle, though not before receiving his opponent's foot straight to his chin.

Having finally stymied Mercer's freefalling onslaught, MacGrath flipped right-side up and went for a right jab. Alex blocked it, but failed to do so when confronted with a punch to the stomach. This left Alex defenseless against Cole's electrically charged uppercut, an attack that temporarily screwed up his vision.

Ignoring the pain, Alex retaliated by striking with both claws; Cole caught his wrists and held them off as the two enemies continued to steadily fall. Charging up a great deal of leg strength, Alex released a galactic kick into MacGrath's abdomen, sending him careening into the torso of Archer Square's tall statue.

Catching sight on MacGrath's body lodged into the statue, the Prototype halted his fall and began gliding over to his immobilized target.

While still wedged in the statue, The Electric Man took notice of Mercer and held out his hand, screaming, "Back off, you sack of…!" To his deep disappointment, hardly a few blue sparks fell from his palm. "…oh, no."

Zeus narrowly missed Cole, stabbing the statue hardly half a second after MacGrath shimmied around to the side. Using his Claws like a pair of pickaxes, Alex temporarily went in pursuit of Cole, who'd simultaneously decided to leap off of the statue and yank Alex by the collar.

This resulted in them both entering a free-fall to Archer Square; Cole had taken control of the situation, punching Alex in the face persistently until the Prototype bled from the mouth. The taste of blood proved to be enough motivation for Alex to block MacGrath's next punch, repositioning himself above Cole as they fell.

He grazed MacGrath's chest with his Claws once before the Conduit responded with a feeble punch across the face. Having felt virtually no pain, Alex switched to the Blade and proceeded to impale his opponent through the right half of his chest.

Alex had Cole speared through the torso, making the landing extremely painful for the latter superhuman. Coughing out blood, MacGrath cried, "Aaah!"

Skewered into the ground again, MacGrath still tried with keen effort to push out Mercer's Blade. Alex, who'd been attempting to consume Cole the moment they landed, was thoroughly impressed with the Electric Man's resolve. Not only was he holding off Alex's blade from further tearing him open, but he also seemed to be internally preventing Alex's assimilation process. Alex surmised his nearly defeated opponent's electromagnetic powers were the culprit.

"Even though I've got you dead to rights," Alex started, still trying to break MacGrath's resistance, "you're still resisting being consumed. It's a good thing I found you now, 'cuz you definitely would've been a problem in the future."

Still trying to remove Alex's Blade, Cole perked up after hearing that last word. "Future? Let me guess…you're here to take over the world?"

Pressing his knee down on Cole's kidney to cause him more pain, Mercer chuckled and said, "Don't mistake me for a cliché. All I'm going to do is improve mankind. Upgrade it. Guys like you, who think it's actually worth protecting…" Glaring dead into Cole's eyes, Alex finished, "…need to go ahead and die off."

Raising an eyebrow, Cole asked offhandedly, "So…you're not here to destroy Empire City?"

"Destroy Empire City?" Alex repeated with a confused look. "I don't give a damn about this shit-hole. I'm only here for you."

Suddenly grinning through bloody teeth, MacGrath deduced, "So that means you're not 'The Beast.' Just another freak lookin' out for number one. Oh, and Mercer—there's still one more power I haven't shown _you…"_

Out of nowhere, Alex had a feeling that all hell was about to break loose. His premonition blended into reality when a brilliant column of lightning erupted from the sky and struck them both; though brief, the lightning strike was punishing enough to send Mercer flying off of Cole, losing his stake in the Prime Conduit's ribcage. Lying on his back twenty feet away, Alex's entire body was painfully numb, suffering from random convulsions and twitching. His scorched flesh let off smoke, sluggishly healing over as he wobbled back up to his feet.

There, he saw Cole MacGrath standing like he'd been reborn, torso completely mended from previous impalement. The lightning column that had struck him as well was surely responsible for that. Standing with his torn courier jacket, Cole boldly proclaimed, "It took a while, but I've finally got all your moves figured out, Mercer. And don't worry, I'm more than prepared for any more surprise powers."

More eager than ever to destroy Cole MacGrath, Alex taunted, "Famous last words. If you're finally ready to put up a fight, then let's end this."

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Cole replied lowly.

Equipping his Muscle Mass power-up, Alex Mercer knew that this part of the battle had been a long time coming. Both combatants rushed at each other, meeting in a grand clash of their right fists. The impact was powerful enough to yield a shockwave that ripped open the pavement between them.

Fists sparking with electricity, Cole dished out a rapid combo of punches, all of which Alex successfully blocked with his forearms. Mercer retaliated with a three-punch combo, punctuating it with two kicks. None of his attacks made contact, however, thanks to Cole's expert weaving.

Just then, Mercer received a lightning bolt to the face and was immediately hit with a leg-sweep thereafter. Grounded, Alex was subject to indefinite electrocution as Cole unleashed an endless torrent of lightning from each of his hands. Being pushed into painful, rage-inducing territory, Alex activated his armored form once again, using it in tandem with Muscle Mass.

The first thing Alex did after standing was vertically jump as high as his heavy legs would take him, watching Cole become smaller on the ground.

"Eat this," Mercer muttered, charging up one of his more powerful moves at the apex of his jump. Plunging back to the ground, Alex slammed his hands into the ground, initiating the Groundspike Graveyard Devastator. As expected, Groundspikes littered the common area of Archer Square.

Cole had weaseled away from the Devastator, opting to mount a nearby flagpole and climb out of the Groundspikes' reach. After Mercer had called back his Groundspikes, MacGrath taunted him, "I'm guessing that one's more of a 'kill all the pretty flowers' move, ain't it?"

Powering down to his non-armored form, Alex went back on the offensive and leapt up to Cole's perched position on the flagpole. However, his assault was cut short due to the shockwave that blasted Mercer back down to the ground. Certainly fazed, Alex caught sight of MacGrath descending over him, noticing his hands and feet were sparking with blue electricity.

Bracing himself, Alex received the full force of Cole's thunderous drop-attack, which inflicted a wide radius of electromagnetic splash damage. After tumbling away a bit, Alex attempted to weakly stand but was bombarded by a brief volley of Megawatt Hammers, knocking him on his back again. The next thing the Prototype knew, an electrified foot came soaring into his face, definitely drawing blood.

Cole's offensive still had yet to see end; grabbing hold of Alex's arm, the Prime Conduit javelin-tossed the fallen Prototype all the way up to the rooftop of a building. Shooting through the air and landing roughly against the concrete roof, Alex cursed to himself for losing the upper hand. Had MacGrath truly figured out all his moves?

No, he had to retake the battle. Peaking over the edge of the roof, he spotted his electricity-based enemy using a telephone cable to grind up to Mercer's isolated position, almost surfing on the wire as his electrified feet propelled him forward.

Going discrete, Alex slipped off the side of the building without Cole even noticing. He then aerial dashed like a dark blur, moving fast beneath the cable Cole currently surfed on. Then, with a quick vertical leap, Alex equipped his Blade and cut the telephone wire at some segment behind MacGrath's kinetic, unaware form.

Thanks to gravity and inertia, this caused him to enter a wild fall, permitting fair game for Alex. Gliding over to the freefalling Electric Man, Zeus aimed to cut him down the middle but had his attack parried under the forearm. Cole then followed up by tossing Alex into the side of the nearest building.

Lodged there, Alex watched MacGrath briefly summon electric thrusters in either of hands like a gliding mechanism to hastily close the gap between them. Once he arrived on the building's wall, Cole proceeded to pummel Mercer's cranium, administering mini-electrocutions with each strike.

Reaching a threshold between pain and anger, Alex kicked MacGrath off of him, sending flying into the opposite building four stories higher. Leaping after Cole, Alex air dashed and switched to increased Muscle Mass before planting his enlarged fist firmly in MacGrath's chest, grappling and throwing his opponent into the wall of the building diagonal of theirs.

Immediately pursuing, Alex reached the immobilized Conduit in record time, kicking him into the building diagonal of the one Cole was just lodged in. Still going strong, Mercer noticed MacGrath finally caught wind of the pattern; Cole detached himself from the building's wall before Alex reached him yet again. What Alex _didn't_ notice was the glowing shock grenade waiting for him in Cole's previous position on the wall.

With no time to react, Mercer was dealt a deadly explosion that terminated his once firm grip on the building's wall. Hitting the ground hard, he was open to yet another volley of Megawatt Hammer potshots, courtesy of Cole MacGrath. The explosive shocks made his entire body go limp.

Finally ending his barrage, MacGrath looked ready to take victory as he said, "Give it up, Mercer. This fight's already over and done with."

Alex's healing factor was slow to take effect. He'd need to find another source of nourishment. Standing weakly, Alex clutched his left arm in fatigue, hunched over as he said, "Heh. I'm glad you finally decided to put up a decent fight. You've pushed me to my limits, MacGrath, and for that reason alone, I have to make sure you die today."

He might not have been able to consume Cole, but Alex would surely find easier sport in the surrounding pedestrians. Switching from Muscle Mass to Whipfist, Alex lashed out his arm and snatched a frightened woman from the sidewalk, reeling her in with absent remorse. Demonstrating his Consume ability, Mercer punctured his fist through the screaming woman's back, mortally wounding her to begin consumption.

After every inch of the unlucky citizen's body assimilated with Zeus' biomass, a newly revitalized Alex stretched out his neck before saying, "Much better. Your move."

Mercer's act of violence did everything to alarm nearby pedestrians. Spectating citizens immediately went into panic mode, scurrying away from Alex Mercer and Cole MacGrath, who seemed to be having difficulty controlling his rage. He uttered vengefully to Alex, "You…bastard…"

Alex would die before believing Cole's powers were superior to his, but he certainly held a weakness against his electrokinesis…and speaking of weaknesses, that was when a much needed trump card finally presented itself to Alex.

After a brief stare-down, MacGrath raised his hand to fire off a few rounds of lightning bolts; dashing forward, Alex evaded the bolts' trajectories, grappling the Conduit around the neck and sprinting down the street. With Cole firmly held in his grasp, Alex bolted through a wide road tunnel jam-packed with ravaged, abandoned cars. While dashing through the tunnel, Mercer forcefully slammed MacGrath's head into six stationary vehicles until emerging from the opposite end.

It was then that Alex put his trump card into play; still keeping a choke-hold on MacGrath, Alex arrived all the way at the western edge of Empire City's Neon District, where they were treated to a nice view of the expansive ocean—Cole MacGrath's one conceivable weakness.

Proof that Cole had figured out Alex's plan, the soon-to-be not so Electric Man mumbled hazily, "Oh, you've gotta be joking."

Preparing to fling MacGrath into the endless body of water, Mercer reeled back his arm and roared, "DIE!"

Then, MacGrath did the only thing that would've gotten him out of that fatal situation. Placing a hand under the former Gentek scientist's chin, Cole set free one particularly punishing Megawatt Hammer.

The resulting explosion knocked back both combatants, neither of whom wound up taking an unwanted swim. They both lie lifelessly on the street, at least ten meters between them, thoroughly knocked unconscious.


	3. You're Going Down

_This last chapter has less dialogue during the fight. And please, no scrolling down unless you want spoilers. _

**Chapter 3: You're Going Down**

Quitting now was not an option. Losing to Cole MacGrath was no longer permitted.

"Ugh…" a languid murmur emitted from Alex's mouth. Motionlessly lying on his side, he allowed the clarity in his vision to settle back in. Rolling over to his back, Alex craned his head sideways to view his likewise fallen opponent. He suddenly grimaced at a violent pain flaring up under his chin.

Touching his chin, he came to the realization that he was missing a piece of his mandible. As his face began reconstructing itself, Alex steadily rose up to his feet, watching Cole do the same ten meters away. They were both equally fatigued, backs hunched over gasping chests.

Cole removed his sling-backpack and tattered courier jacket, now sporting a short-sleeve, black and yellow baseball tee. Visible rips adorned his tee-shirt, each accompanied by crimson stains. Tossing his sling-backpack and jacket aside, MacGrath shifted into a battle-ready stance, looking about ready to finish things.

Alex, meanwhile, replaced his hands with the feral claws, holding them low by his sides. With his dead, gray eyes, he demonically glared at MacGrath from under his hood, receiving twofold the same look.

The sun was just beginning to fall below the ocean's horizon, heralding dusk. Most of the citizens that occupied the area had long since fled, save a few daring individuals attempting to record the battle on their smart-phones.

Both fighters entered the final seconds of their standoff, knowing one of them was going down in the next five minutes.

Mercer and MacGrath concurrently exploded forward. Alex met the Electric Man halfway, claws shredding air to cause MacGrath certain harm. Alex's right claw passed over Cole's ducking head; shortly afterward, his left completely whiffed as MacGrath leaned diagonally.

Alex pivoted his body around to deliver a surprise roundhouse kick. Cole was fast enough to block it with his forearm, retaliating with a left hook, which was immediately warded off by the back of Alex's clawed hand. The Prototype repeated the same defensive tactic when confronted with an uppercut, countering with another roundhouse kick.

After blocking it, Cole dropped down for a swift leg-sweep. Alex hopped over it, sequentially driving both claws forward after landing. Before the claws could maim him, Cole seized Alex's wrists, initiating a head-butt and then using both feet to dropkick Alex in the abdomen.

As a result, both superhumans hit the ground at the same time. Rolling backward a few feet, Alex regained his balance and proceeded to bury his claws into the pavement. With indomitable determination, Alex caused a single column of Groundspikes to suddenly erupt from the street, aiming to catch Cole by surprise.

The Conduit must have felt it moving below the surface judging by how fast he rolled forward. Alex retracted his Groundspikes, playing defense when Cole attempted to strike him with a right hook. Swaying his head leftward to dodge it, Alex had enough time to run his claw across MacGrath's right forearm, drawing more of his blood.

Being on the westernmost edge of the city during sunset would've typically been a serene time for the citizens of Empire City, especially given the breathtaking view of the ocean. Now, however, the thirty or forty people still watching from a safe distance couldn't appear more troubled at seeing the spilled blood of their fabled hero.

Alex's next strike was deflected by a well-timed punch to the center of his palm, almost leaving him open for a counterattack. In a split second, Alex substituted Claws for Muscle Mass, crossing his arms in front of his face to guard against an onslaught of electrified punches.

Swift in movement, Alex caught Cole's left fist in his massive right hand, holding off the Prime Conduit's sparking knuckles. However, when Alex went for a right haymaker, MacGrath managed to scrounge up some hidden strength and catch the incoming fist with his left hand, forcing them both into an intense struggle.

Thanks to his improved muscle, Alex was able to quickly break Cole down to a weakened, kneeling position. Hands and fists still interlocked with Cole's, Alex sharply threw his knee into Cole's jawbone, causing him to lose his grip on Alex's left fist. Still keeping a firm hold on Cole's left hand, Alex decided to repeat a recently failed tactic; picking up the Electric Man in a wide lasso above his head, Alex—once again—briefly aimed for the nearby expanse of water, spending no more than one second with a captive Cole MacGrath above his head.

To Alex's vexation—once again—his throw was interrupted by a Megawatt Hammer appearance—this time, two of them, exploding at his feet. This buckled Mercer's balance, tossing him backward and also forcing him to release Cole.

Alex regained his footing just in time to hear Cole yell, "Eat this!"

Reading Cole's hand movements, Alex comprehended that an electromagnetic Shockwave was imminent. Digging his muscle-bound arms deep into the street's pavement, Codename Zeus tautly braced himself as the incoming Shockwave hit him with full force, nearly uprooting him from the street.

Brushing aside the discomfort, Alex got the jump on his next counterattack, quickly snatching up the nearest parked automobile with one hand and swinging it over at Cole. However, just when Alex was expecting a grand slam, a blue Shockwave intercepted the car he was swinging, knocking it out of his hands and into a few traffic lights.

Ever the tenacious brawler, Alex picked up another automobile, this time, holding it overhead with both hands for a firmer grip. Alex's attempt to pulverize Cole was disrupted by the Electric Man's impulsive zapping of the car's gas tank, resulting in an explosion that left the Prototype stunned.

Before Alex knew it, Cole had zeroed in on him, used Alex's chest like a stepping stone, and then kicked him hard under the chin, ending the move in one fluid backflip. Just as Cole was about to fire more lightning bolts from his hand, Alex anticipated this and extracted his highly protective Shield to absorb all incoming damage.

Cole must have been trying to test the Shield's integrity, for he chose to toss out three of those sticky Shock Grenades against it. Hardly allowed any time to react, Alex simply waited for the blue charges to detonate on their own accord, still sustaining no damage thanks to his Shield power up.

Lowering his defensive biomass, Alex came to the conclusion that Cole had used the Shock Grenades as a distraction while he fueled up by a streetlight. Growling under his breath, Alex proceeded to clear a single bound over Cole's head, landing behind him while switching to the Blade.

Taking advantage of Cole's confusion, Alex left a superficial laceration across his opponent's back. Had Cole not tried to dive away, Alex might have been able to make a deeper cut.

Going in for and missing a strike of his Blade, Alex received a kick to the chest thereafter, suddenly finding himself more distanced from his opponent. After seeing Cole outstretch his arm, a telltale sign of him about to fire something lightning-related, Alex reequipped his Shield and braced for the inbound barrage of Megawatt Hammers. With each explosion against his Shield, he lost a little of his footing, all the while knowing his Shield's damage threshold would be crossed at any second.

When his last line of protection finally broke, Alex was blown backward from having painfully taken the brunt of Cole's last Megawatt Hammer. Struggling to get back up to his feet, Alex was immediately met with a flurry of electrically charged punches to his head, ribs, and abdomen.

Complete with a three-sixty spin, Cole finished the combo with a kick to Mercer's mouth, allotting himself the time to quickly supplement the Gigawatt Blade power-up to each of his hands. Targeting Mercer's face with extreme prejudice, Cole chopped his high-voltage hands in an "X" pattern, dealing a hefty blow that sent Alex careening backward.

Alex flipped back up to a standing position and eyed Cole with murderous intent. He couldn't believe it, but the Conduit had actually managed to whittle him down to a vulnerable, maybe even killable state. However, being on the verge of defeat had always served to empower Alex in the past, mainly in the form of last-minute Devastators. Right now, he was thinking Critical Pain.

Just then, Cole summoned another Lightning Storm that crashed down from the skies. It was that same column of lightning that struck Alex back in Archer Square, and it was on a vicious path headed straight for him. Realizing he needed to halt this attack at all costs, Alex began charging up his Critical Pain Devastator, knowing this was his last shot at silencing the stationary, defenseless Cole MacGrath.

Feeling the power surge through his arms, Alex finally released the highly destructive mass of tendrils from his palms, driving them toward Cole as they purged right through the inbound Lightning Storm.

The tendrils never reached their target; thanks to his Devastator being keenly interrupted, the tendrils retracted back into his hands. The pillar of lightning caught Alex in full force, stopping to thoroughly pummel him into the ground. He shouted like never before, practically feeling his torso split open. His body was tormented by the Lightning Storm until every last ounce of Cole's power was sapped. Marking the beginning of the end, the column finally dissipated.

Dust from the disturbed pavement finally settled down, revealing the scene to every speechless spectator. Broken down from the Lightning Storm, Mercer motionlessly lay on his back, hardly even conscious. The front of Alex's chest was smoking and charred completely black, all the way through to his leather jacket, hoodie, and dress shirt.

Paralyzed on his back, Alex felt his senses beginning to fail him. As his world started spinning, Cole had limped into view, standing victorious. The Conduit said slowly, "You and I….We were given a choice when we discovered our powers. I used mine to help people, making sure the protection of this city is first priority."

"I've been the hero before, MacGrath." Alex stated before coughing violently. "Humanity is moving in the wrong direction. It's _almost_ beyond saving…" Lifting his head, Alex refuted any thoughts of victory from Cole's head, "And don't think you've managed to kill me. I've come back from far worse."

"I don't doubt it. Just another thing we both have in common," Cole concluded, calling down one last Lightning Storm.

* * *

**-X-**

_Okay, before you start griping about the outcome, here are seven points worth noting:_

_Don't deny it. Alex Mercer has a pretty average weakness against electricity. Proven by his boss fight with Cross._

_Cole may need to recharge frequently, but as long as electricity is in good supply, he can never be fatigued for too long. Alex, on the other hand, requires people to nourish himself; it's a time-consuming job to find someone, capture him, kill that person, and then absorb him. Cole's drain ability is simply finding the nearest source of electricity and leeching away._

_Also, while Alex's moves are particularly more devastating on a crazier, f*ck sh*t up level, Cole's abilities have higher versatility. Don't believe me? How about shooting lightning, for starters? Along with regular bolts, he has grenades, rockets, shockwaves, and even a high degree of skill in CQC. _

_Cole's Lightning Storm is also super immediate. Unlike Alex's Devastators, Cole doesn't need to waste time charging up to see his payoff. _

_Yeah, I know Mercer survived a nuke. But then again, so do cockroaches. And I squish them all the time—which is exactly what Cole accomplished._

_I can't care less if I sound like a fanboy for saying this. I think Cole MacGrath is just a better character. The good version, anyways._

_And one last thing: Infamous 2 Cole would have owned Alex Mercer. Fire and/or ice powers? A wider array of electric abilities? The Amp?! Yeah, it wouldn't have been fair. (Don't get me started on Evil Ending I2 Cole.)_

_Anyway, so that's the end. Feel free to leave a review saying how Alex would've totally killed Cole (or compliments/criticisms). Hybrid out._


End file.
